Taste of Cherry

Director
Abbas Kiarostami
Producer
Abbas Kiarostami
Year
1997
Spoken
Persian
Subtitle
English
Country
Iran
Length
95
Format
VHS/NTSC
Off
Description

Middle-aged Mr.Badii is planning to commit suicide and desperately seeks anyone to assist him - he has already dug out the grave in the mountains, but the assistant will have to bury him when he will do the deed. He asks Kurd soldier, Afghan seminarian, but everyone refuses by some reason. Finally he finds an old Turkish taxidermist, who has a sick son and previously attempted suicide himself, and he agrees to assist Badii. The Taste of The Cherry is the story of the last day in the life of Mister Badii. He is going to Teheran, where he wants to find somebody to bury him, after he has killed himself. It is an easy job, just shovel some earth on him, and besides, it is well paid. First he wants to persuade a young soldier who does not say much, feels more and more uncomfortable and then runs away. The second man he talks to is a seminarist, who gives a lecture about suicide and guilt but does not help either. The third guy is an old teacher, who will do the job, but who tries to persuade Badii that it is not a good thing to do. He tells him a joke about some ill-feeling Kurd to make Badii change his attitude, and says the taste of the cherry kept him from suicide once.